


Harry Potter and the Fae Unseen

by Genericbadguy



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Originally Posted on FanFiction.Net, Re-titled
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-18
Updated: 2015-08-19
Packaged: 2018-04-15 09:41:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 17,013
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4601985
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Genericbadguy/pseuds/Genericbadguy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Many women give their lives to so that their children may live. What if something else was involved that night Lily gave her life for her son? A story and a tribute to those that always help from the shadows.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Depth and Extent

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own anything Harry Potter.

Her whole body trembled as she cradled her baby, her precious little Harry, against her chest and kissed his sweet head. She could hear James screaming spells downstairs and things breaking as all the while that evil bastard laughed. She laid her child in his crib and ran her finger down his face. Quickly, she wiped away her tears and took a steadying breath.

She could no longer hear her husband and she knew the charms on the nursery door would not last for long. Turning away from the crib she lifted her wand and began the incantation, drawing the appropriate symbols in the air as it's tip glowed white. The strange figures remained in the air like an after-image before they faded and a small creature stood in front of her.

It was the size of a five year old and had white hair almost as long as the creature was tall. It could almost could have been mistaken as a little girl except that it's ears, teeth and nails were all a little too long, too pointed and sharp. It's irises were the wrong shape and too purple to be human.

"Please," said the woman falling to her knees "You have to help me."

The thing crouched and looked around the room warily.

"What have you summoned me here for woman?!" it hissed "This place reeks of death and danger!"

"You must save my child!" the woman said tears flowing freely now.

"Didn't your mother ever teach you not to make deals with the fae child!" it sneered. "We are not a kind people in our exchanges. Now release me from the bind of your summon!"

The mother reached out and grasped the faerie's small arm.

"Please, you are my last chance!"

There was a loud thud on the door and the two froze as they stared at it in horror. A second thud shook the entire room. The creature hissed and ripped her arm away.

"Release me woman! I cannot save you from the evil that has come!"

A third thud and the child began to cry. Green eyes looked worriedly at her child for a second and then changed and burned with fierce determination as they looked at the creature again.

"Not me." She said, voice hard as stone. "Just Harry. Just my baby. Please," her voice began to shake "use your power and protect him."

Another thud and they heard something creak, close to breaking. The fae glared at the woman.

"Fae magic does not work like that you red haired woman. My power can only be used in exchange for whatever you are willing to pay. Tell me, child" she said cocking her head to the side "What can you give me?"

The fae knew that she was being cruel; she was a small faerie because she had no patience for humans and their petty requests. She did not spend her time making uneven bargains like most of her brethren in order to gain power.

But this was the way of things. She could only use what was given to her.

The poor mother looked around her and spread out her arms in futility and desperation; distress evident in every line of her face. What could she give?

"Anything." She said thickly "Everything."

The fae breathed in sharply through her teeth. Other faeries only ever dreamed of a human foolish enough to agree to those kind of terms.

The nursery door burst open with explosive sound, raining wooden splinters into the room and revealing a vicious and malevolent man holding out his wand.

The fae hid under the crib in a flash as the woman put herself between the man and her now screaming son.

"No." she said.

"Move aside woman." Said the cold voice of the terror that had come to murder her baby.

"Please, not Harry." Her voice shook.

"I said move!" he hissed.

"NO!" came her resounding cry, the strength and feral defiance of it filling the room.

The fae gasped as the warmth of ancient magic filled the room and a green light flashed and the woman screamed. Her body hit the ground and the faerie was now staring at the woman's wide open and empty eyes. She had been beautiful. Her eyes like gems and her hair falling in heavy tresses the color of a scarlet rose.

These were all things that any fae would have accepted as payment. Now the woman had given them and so much more.

Anything, she had said.

Everything.

The evil one was now standing over the child and laughing as the creature under the bed shook.

She shook with the raw power of a mother's love that she knew that she was only a conduit of. She felt the extreme will to kill build in the man and she cried out as her body dissolved to accomplish what had been commissioned of her.

The blackness stood and cast death and she became an excruciating brightness that rose up to protect the child.

But this wasn't the passive protection that simply accepted the pain unto itself. This power snarled like a mother tiger with bright emerald eyes that batted the death back at it's castor and watched it destroy itself.

It roared at the shadow of what remained and dared it to try and come back.


	2. The Price

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own anything Harry Potter.

The faerie sat on top of the refrigerator in the kitchen of number four Privet Drive and watched Petunia and Vernon Dursley argue.

"You have told me about her kind dear and I won't have it in my house!" yelled Vernon, his second chin trembling in rage.

"She was your sister." Said the fae. Petunia stared at the floor with a pinched, sour expression.

"She was my sister, Vernon." She said.

Her husband blustered and gestured toward the basket on the table that contained a sleeping baby.

"Can't we leave it at some sort of institution?" he asked.

Petunia's eyes wandered over to the child.

"Perhaps." She mumbled.

The fae's eyes snapped to the woman's face, the fireworks of purple and emerald green sparkling dangerously. She jumped down from the fridge gracefully, her white hair, now highlighted with fiery red, trailing behind her. She put on unseen and un-felt hand on Petunia's arm.

"You know why that won't work." Said the faerie threateningly. "Remember the old man's letter."

Petunia bit her lip and slowly shook her head and the fae resisted the urge to scratch the woman's eyes out. She could only work with what she was given and right then there wasn't a lot.

"No." the horse-faced woman finally said. "We will keep him." She held up her hand before Vernon could protest.

"That doesn't mean we have to like it. We just have to make sure that our own dear Dudley is not in any way worse off for our charity."

The lard of a man agreed and the fae let out the breath she had been holding. As if on cue another baby in the other room began to cry. The couple moved out of the kitchen and put their new charge out of their minds.

The little faerie growled as she watched them go and lightly jumped unto the table, sitting next to the basket.

The contract was not yet fulfilled.

She had hoped, desperately, that the child would be safe with his family and she would be allowed to leave. She plied all her innate skills of manipulation and cunning to find a loophole but found none.

There was tremendous power given to her, but it was so singular in use that she was left with no other options. She had to remain with the boy.

Protect him.

She sneered as she looked at the smelly human and the red mark in the shape of a lighting bolt on his once sooth forehead. It didn't mean she had to like the creature, she supposed. He, after all, was the cause of this semi slavery.

The baby began to whimper and the fae rocked the basket back and forth without realizing and continued to grumble about her fate.

The five year old Harry winced as the plate slipped out of his hands and crashed to the ground. He scrambled off the chair he had been standing on as he did the dishes as Vernon lumbered into the kitchen red-faced.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE BOY!" he yelled. The child curled into a ball and trembled under the shadow of the man.

The fae jumped up from the floor where she had been making all the edges of the glass dull and unable to cut.

The hair stood up on the back of her neck.

"Don't hurt him!" she screeched "It was an accident!"

"YOU IDIOT! We take you in and this is WHAT WE GET!?" He continued and she knew her words had nothing to latch unto in the man. He bent over and grabbed the little boy roughly by the arm. Harry yelped in pain and she tried to conjure the blasting destructive force of her power.

But this was the home of the only blood connection of the magic's progenitor. It was not a sentient thing and it would not obey her. Not in this house.

He was shaking the boy now and she jumped onto his back.

"Don't leave bruises!" she hissed deadly and quiet as she latched unto the only thing she had to work with.

What would the neighbors say?" she continued. "If you strike him they will find out." She made it sound like a certainty. "When he starts school, all those nosey, good-for-nothing teachers and their prying eyes will surely notice."

Vernon stopped shaking the boy but did not let him go.

"They won't understand the boy's ungratefulness and his…abnormality." She said "They'll ask questions if they see marks. So best not to get into the habit."

The large man dropped the now crying child unto the ground.

"Clean up this mess, boy." He spat the last word.

"Then go to your cupboard." said the fae, wanting to get Harry out of the man's reach.

"Then go to your cupboard."

The fae jumped off his shoulders as he stomped out of the kitchen. But she did not land with the grace and ease she was used to; instead she fell to her knees and groaned.

She hadn't thrown-up in decades but she wanted to right then and there. Touching such negative and dark emotions was something she swore she would never do.

Dark magic never left anyone untainted. She cringed against the pain that some evil creatures sought like a drug and looked up at Harry, who had begun to clean up.

"Be careful of the glass, Harry dear." She rasped quietly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hope you liked the chapter. Please review!!!


	3. The Price, part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own anything Harry Potter.

Petunia stood over the trashcan and contemplated the leftovers in her hand,

"It is a waste of perfectly good food." Said the fae crouched on the counter next to her. "Dudley and Vernon won't eat it if it's not fresh so why not give it to the boy?"

The horse-faced woman narrowed her eyes and the fae sighed.

He's like a mongrel anyway." She said. "What's more normal than tossing scraps to a dog?"

That convinced her and the fae closed her eyes against the now familiar oily feeling that dark magic left her with. Petunia scraped the food into a bowl and put it in front of the cupboard door before banging on it.

It opened a crack and a small hand slipped out and grabbed the bowl as she walked away.

"Poisonous bitch." Said the fae loudly and the boy in the cupboard snorted in amusement as he thought of his new favorite nickname for his aunt.

The fae sat against the door of the cupboard where the ten year-old slept. Her hair had once been the purest white. She had once spent her nights in the company of unicorns and danced under the sparkling light of the full moon who smiled and called her its daughter.

Not a single white hair was left to her. Even the red was barely visible among the strands that were now as black as pitch.

They had turned dark one hair at a time. If she held them up one by one, she could have described just how she had absorbed or deflected the cruelty of her boy's relatives in each instance.

Evil always left a stain.

She did not dare go outside in the full moon now.

The boy began to shift in his cupboard and she quickly opened the door.

"Shh." She said leaning in as close as she dared. Her hand hovering over his forehead as if to caress it. She had not touched the child since she had noticed her fingernails beginning to blacken.

Softly, she began to sing a lullaby she learned from a she-wolf spirit when she had spent a winter in her cave with her cubs.

It was low and had no words, but it was his favorite and the only song that comforted him these days.

As his eyes continued to grow far older than his body, she knew that even this song would soon cease to do that for him.

Evil always left a stain.

No matter how hard she tried to protect him from it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I have decided to post the entire story at once. Please enjoy and review and comment.


	4. Fate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own anything Harry Potter or the poem by Mr. Yeats.

Scene: A circle of Druidic stones

First Fairy: Afar from our lawn and our levee,  
O sister of sorrowful gaze!  
Where the roses in scarlet are heavy  
And dream of the end of their days,  
You move in another dominion  
And hang o'er the historied stone:  
Unpruned in your beautiful pinion  
Who wander and whisper alone.

All: Come away while the moon's in the woodland,  
We'll dance and then feast in a dairy.  
Though youngest of all in our good band,  
You are wasting away, little fairy.

Second Fairy: Ah! cruel ones, leave me alone now  
While I murmur a little and ponder  
The history here in the stone now;  
Then away and away I will wander,  
And measure the minds of the flowers,  
And gaze on the meadow-mice wary,  
And number their days and their hours-

All: You're wasting away, little fairy.

Second Fairy: O shining ones, lightly with song pass,  
Ah! leave me, I pray you and beg.  
My mother drew forth from the long grass  
A piece of a nightingle's egg,  
And cradled me here where are sung,  
Of birds even, longings for aery  
Wild wisdoms of spirit and tongue.

All: You're wasting away, little fairy.

First Fairy [turning away]: Though the tenderest roses were round you,  
The soul of this pitiless place  
With pitiless magic has bound you-  
Ah! woe for the loss of your face,  
And the loss of your laugh with its lightness-  
Ah! woe for your wings and your head-  
Ah! woe for your eyes and their brightness-  
Ah! woe for your slippers of red.

We'll dance and then feast in a dairy.  
Though youngest of all in our good band,  
She's wasting away, little fairy.

William Butler Yeats, "The Fairy Pendant"

Chapter four: Fate

The one greatest thing that the fae hated about Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was that she was not allowed onto the grounds. She stood as close to the edge of the Forbidden Forest as the wards would let her and stared and the castle that her Harry now lived in.

She supposed that it was a good thing that no fae or magical creatures could step unto the grounds. Well there was that troll, but he was let in. She knew that many of her brethren would delight in a similar chance to torment wizard children.

Still…

She picked at her black claw like nails and sighed. No, she wouldn't want her around children either.

Didn't stop other unsavory characters from being allowed in though, besides the troll, she thought jumping unto a tree branch and sitting down in a huff. The green in her eyes allowed her to see out of the green in Harry's.

At first she enjoyed seeing what he did and it had made her happy to see him making friends and eating in that large room. Until she suddenly felt the evil. Heat rose up from within her and Harry winced in pain as his scar responded. That dark man was glaring at him.

She could only see what the boy could and she had wanted to tear her hair out to make him look around. It might have been caused by the man in black, it might have been another. She could not influence the child from out in the forest.

The fae crossed her arms and let her leg dangle.

She and the boy had eventually learned that the dark man was the potions master and she now felt even more inclined to believe that he was the cause. Sure, she wasn't allowed in to be around children but that kind of man was allowed to teach rooms of students.

She sneered.

He couldn't fool her, she knew he was tainted. Even without being in the room, she could feel the bitterness and darkness rolling off him.

The professor knew it too.

She recognized the way he avoided contact, physical and emotional and she was glad of it. If anyone like herself or the potions master dared to so much as lay a finger on her charge, she would see to it that they no longer had fingers.

Drumming her own fingers on her arm she wondered what kind of creature she would become if she ate someone else's fingers.

The sun began to set and she watched the half-giant come out of his hut and prepare for the children's detention. Her shoulders relaxed and she allowed a smile to flit across her face when she finally saw the boy.

She jumped unto Hagrid's shoulder and rode there with her chin in her hands and listened to her boy chat with his friends. The unicorn that had been killed last Wednesday had thrown all the creatures in the forest into turmoil, but the fae had kept to herself. She was hardly fit for their company and she wanted to avoid the pure creatures having to tell her directly not to talk to them.

Harry was the only exception she would make, but that was as long as he never knew.

Something evil moved in the trees and her head shot up straight.

"Hargrid! Hide the children!" she shouted into his ear.

"GET BEHIND THAT TREE!" yelled the man, interrupting whatever he had been saying to the little girl next to Harry.

Hermoine, the fae absently vaguely remembered the girl's name as she scanned the forest; every sense tingling and alert. Hagrid had his crossbow out…Nothing. But she would not sit back down as Hagrid walked on with the children. She only relaxed slightly as the centaur, Ronan, came out and began to talk with Hagrid.

The centaur could see her, of course, as she stood on the half-giant's shoulder. Anyone completely free of human blood would always be able to see her. He had the decency to act like he couldn't though.

She kept her face neutral as he spoke.

"Always the innocent are the first victims." He said "So it has been for ages past, so it is now."

She tensed.

"Yeah," said Hagrid "But have yeh seen anythin', Ronan? Anythin' unusual?"

"Mars is bright tonight. Unusually bright?" he said.

The fae lowered her head and took a deep breath. That was the second time he said it. Hagrid was growing annoyed but the centaur said it a third time. A second centaur came out.

"Mars is bright tonight." He said as well and she clenched her fists and snarled. They did not react, they, after-all, knew that her ire was not directed at them.

Mars was the bringer of war and she got the message.

Hagrid kept walking with the children but she jumped down and remained; staring at the centaurs with a determined glare.

"Tell me the boy's fate." She demanded. They looked at her dark features and she could see the pity in their eyes. She pinched her lips and looked away, knowing that she was not what she once was and hating them for knowing it as well.

"Tell me." She growled.

"You are not tied to the boy as you once thought." Said Ronan softly. "'Come away while the moon's in the woodland, / We'll dance and the feast in a dairy / Though youngest of all in our good band, / You are wasting away, little fairy.'"

"Do not sing me songs!" she spat, feeling her whole body beginning to tremble. She took a deep breath.

"I promised to protect him." She said firmly "What fae have you ever known to go back to go back on their word?"

They averted their gaze.

Her eyes flashed and she saw through Harry's eyes as a hooded creature, mouth dripping with unicorn's blood, crept towards him.

"Harry!" she screeched and took off running. Those damn centaurs, they easily overtook her and sped before her. She cursed them for their shallow and meaningless overtures of sympathy and help.

She stopped next to them as they argued with a third of their kind. This one had Harry on his back and left after angry words to take the boy out of the Forest. The fae stood there breathing heavily for a moment, eyes closed and too relieved and too close to tears to do anything else.

When she opened her eyes she couldn't help but see the slain unicorn. Slowly, she walked up to the beautiful creature and fell to her knees before it horrible death scene.

She knew this one.

A tortured sob was ripped from her throat and she felt hot tears on her cheeks.

Since a foal she knew him. She had watched and laughed in joy as he took his first stumbling steps. Slept curled next to him and his mother after nights filled with dancing and moonlight.

She rocked back and forth as her fingers dug into the ground and her sobs filled the night air. She did not even care that the centaurs still watched her.

"You asked what the boy's fate was." Said one of them "Know that if you stay with him, you will experience this grief once more, in this very forest."

She covered her face her face with her dirt covered hands and curled into a ball.

'Ah! cruel ones, leave me alone now.'

"SOD OFF!" she yelled into the dirt.

'While I murmur a little and ponder'

Her breath came in broken gasps.

"I won't, I won't l-let that happen." She whispered.

'The history in the stone now,

Then away and away I will wander,'

She put her hands on the ground and used them to steady herself as she put her feet beneath her. Standing, she lurched before regaining her balance. They were leaving now. Hell if she cared, she needed to find Harry. He needed her.

'And measure the minds of the flowers,

And gaze on the meadow mice wary,'

No matter what fate lay ahead for him.

'And number their days and their hours—'

She stumbled and caught herself on a tree trunk. The fae took deep breaths and looked up at the sky through the branches. She would rage against the stars if she had to.

'You're wasting away, little fairy.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Please review!


	5. Promise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own anything Harry Potter.

He went after the sorcerer's stone and at first the fae was happy that he at least had the foresight to bring along his friends. They would most likely help him see the foolishness and danger that the entire endeavor was comprised of. They were children after-all and once they saw the difficulty of the task they would give up and return to their beds.

Now she cursed them.

"Chess? Wizard's chess?" she growled, pacing back and forth as if caged. "Did they poll his classmates for their strengths before they set up these protections or something?!"

She threw up her hands and sat down on her haunches. She growled in displeasure as the little red-headed boy won the game by sacrificing himself.

Something inside her was thrumming. A swelling heat that stole away any semblance of thought stretched across her mind and filled her with blank certainty of what was to come.

A smirk was the last expression to grace her face as the Granger girl pondered the riddle with the potions. It was a decent one, but posed no challenge. The child would probably be able to hold her own in the company of faeries. Thought the fae. They did love their word games. She shook her head and stopped thinking as the boy began to speak to Quirrell.

The heat was the only thing in her mind when she heard her enemy's voice once more.

So he did dare.

She wasn't looking through Harry's eyes anymore, she became something undefinable again and she was there with Harry. Somewhere in the green of his eyes, where his mother resided.

"How touching." the evil face on the back of Quirrell's head hissed. "I always value bravery…Yes, boy, you parents were brave…I killed your father first; and he put up a courageous fight…but your mother needn't have died…she was trying to protect you…Now give me the stone, unless you want her to have died in vain."

"NEVER!" they screamed.

The enemy tried to hold unto the boy and she felt every red hair on her head burst into flames. In the back of her head she acknowledged that Harry was in pain but she could not help but be delighted at the sight of Quirrell's blistering flesh.

Rage and delight.

Dancing in her mind as the man dared to touch her boy again.

Then the boy was grabbing the enemy and she used every ounce of the fire she had been given to reduce the man to ash.

Suddenly she was standing by herself, panting and staring at what used to be a man.

Where was she?

She looked around.

"HARRY!" she screamed and threw herself down next to him. "Harry!" she yelled again as she turned him over. Oh Merlin, she had hurt him. She grimaced with clenched teeth as her hand shook and hovered over his forehead. Clenching her hand in a fist, she closed her eyes and fought herself for a moment.

"Harry." She said, voice breaking as she brought her fist back and hugged it to her chest. Instead she reached out with her magic and felt for his life. It thrummed steadily and greeted her happily.

She took a steadying breath. In, deeply filling her lungs and out, shaking as it went. She could do this.

She looked up sharply as a man in black ran to Harry's side. Through narrowed lids, she watched as he knelt next to the boy and looked him up and down for injuries with a frantic expression.

Snape's hand went to touch the boy's forehead and the fae nearly hissed. She didn't have to though; the potion master's hand froze before it came in contact with the boy. Slowly he curled his fingers into a fist and withdrew his hand.

Snape watched the sleeping child's face and the realization of the kind of man she was looking at dawned upon her.

"That's right." She said "We don't get to touch him with love and affection."

She reached across the boy and grabbed his robes in her fist.

"We are here to protect him and we will do it the best we can. Even if it hurts him in the process."

Magic was not required for this promise. She could feel it already living within the dark man; her words only strengthening his resolution.

"Now pick up the boy and take him to the infirmary."

She released the black fabric with a disdainful shove and lost consciousness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please review!


	6. The Fairy Pendant

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own anything Harry Potter.

The fae woke up back at Harry's "home" once he had returned there for the summer.

"Damn blood wards." She muttered even as she felt them restoring her strength as she crouched on the corner of Harry's small room. She took a deep breath and tried to release all the bone deep ache that permeated her entire body. It took energy to move, to breath, even to think.

Energy she needed to save for protecting Harry now that the enemy had returned. From now on it would be a completely different fight than it had been for the last ten years. She just needed enough energy right now to perform one last spell. Or series of spells that is.

With clenched teeth she hulled herself to her feet and stood there swaying until the room stopped spinning. She leaned her head back, face to the ceiling and eyes closed.

Breath in.

Out.

In.

She rolled her neck to the side and listened to it crack. Things would be better this way.

With a now steady step, she walked over to Hedwig's caged and opened to door. Harry was in the garden at the moment and she needed to get this done before he came back to the room.

"Do you understand what you have to do, snowy one?" she asked.

The owl hooted and ruffled her feathers. Of course she knew what to do! Wasn't the boy also under her care? Hedwig nipped at the fae's fingers and she smiled.

"Yes, yes. I trust you. Don't look at me like that, now."

The fae closed her eyes once more and gathered the magic around her. The owl flapped her wings as she contributed to the spell.

Eventually she settled down on her perch and hopped out of the cage. Right where the fae had been standing was a small druidic stone with a hole in the middle. As she watched a leather band appeared through the hole and the stone glowed white the faded back to dark gray; now covered with runes.

She swooped down and gathered the pendant in her claws before settling on top of her cage to wait. When the sun had begun to set, Harry shuffled into his room and threw himself unto his bed.

Hedwig hooted at him. With a tired sigh he looked up at his familiar.

"Sorry, girl. I wasn't able to snag any food. I'll let you out to hunt in a bit okay? We just have to wait for it to get dark out so Uncle Vernon doesn't notice."

She hooted again and fluttered to his bed, landing on his stomach. Bobbing her head up and down, she cackled at him.

Harry sat up confused and she flew back to her cage. He looked down and picked up the necklace up by its leather string and studied it for a moment. He glanced at Hedwig uncertainly and she bobbed her head.

He looked at the stone again and made a face then leaned to the side to put the stone on the desk next to his bed. Hedwig hissed and beat her wings. He quickly straightened, necklace still in his hand.

He stared at her and she looked right back at him, intense yellow eyes unblinking.

"You want me to put it on?" he asked. She bobbed her head once.

Harry looked at the necklace again, turning it over in his hands. He would never admit out loud that he trusted his owl more than he did most people. But he did. He shrugged and slipped the leather strap over his head.

And promptly forgot that it existed.

He scowled in confusion and wondered what he had been thinking about as he stared at Hedwig. But she was nonchalantly preening her feathers.

Harry shrugged and lay back down on his bed, oblivious of the fairy pendant he now wore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please review!


	7. Magical Creatures

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own anything Harry Potter.

It bothered her not being completely aware all the time, but she knew that in her dormant state, she would act like a protection charm. Minimizing harm.

And she could be with him wherever he was. Not just standing at the edge of the Forbidden Forest and watching.

Meanwhile she dreamed of the things that happened around her and if the danger ever reached beyond a certain point; she would wake up.

Like, if he ever found himself surrounded by giant spiders…

"We'll just go then." Harry called desperately to Aragog. The fae had jumped back quickly as soon as she has materialized and began working madly on an escape route. She sensed a charm close by and the smell of iron.

"Go?" she heard Aragog slowly say "I think not…"

She gritted her teeth and sped in the direction on what she suspected was close by, hissing at any spider in her way. They barely noticed her as they crept closer to the smell of the young boys and fresh meat.

She nearly screamed in pain as she touched the iron door handle of the Angelina and jumped in. It sprang to life under touch and the charms responded to her intent.

Mr. Weasley's car thundered down the slope, knocking spiders to the side as she laid on the horn and pushed to sick feeling from the iron to the back of her mind.

It screeched to a halt next to the boys and the doors flew open.

"GET IN!" she yelled and slammed the doors closed once the children and the useless hound they had brought were in and stepped on the gas. She was barley tall enough to reach the pedals and quickly made herself taller.

Cleverly, she steered the car through the widest gaps, following the path in the forest that she knew well. She stoically ignored the howling dog in the backseat and the two frightened boys as they tore through the undergrowth. She did not dare look back to see how closely they were followed and was just as glad when to side-view mirror broke off when she got too close to a tree.

Her hands loosened their grip on the steering wheel as the trees thinned. She then did glance at the rearview mirror and braked suddenly when she looked back. The car jolted to a halt at the edge of the forest, nearly throwing her passengers through the windshield.

She took a shaky breath. She had almost forgotten that the wards would not have let her on the grounds in her present form. Fang and the boys climbed out of the car after a moment. Harry gave the car a grateful pat and the fae rolled her eyes; her arm hanging out the driver's side window.

"Right then." She drawled "I'll just go park the car, shall I?"

She reversed the car back in to the forest and drove it out if view.

The fae woke again to find herself staring into the eyes of the enemy. No, that wasn't quite right. She inhaled deeply through her nose. This one looked young and smelled like a shadow, a memory.

And he was chatting with Harry.

The fire in her would not help her in this instance she thought as she crouched on the ground and took in her surroundings. Suddenly she sensed something moving beneath her feet.

She breathed in sharply this time and tensed as she recognized the ancient smell of the creature that had yet to show itself. She stood up, panic painfully filling her mind and sharp teeth bared in a defensive snarl. She let out a shrill cry; a sound too high for any human ear but it would be heard throughout the entire castle.

It was a call for help.

She could not fight a basilisk alone and if there were any allies at all close by, they would answer its call. The old snake stirred once more at the noise but stayed put as its master was bragging. The fae wished she could smack the memory that called itself Riddle in the mouth, but that just let the thing notice her.

Soon the music of a phoenix filled the chamber and landed in the boys shoulder. The memory laughed at them as Harry held the sorting hat in his hands but the fae gave the fiery bird a respectful nod.

If this was all she had to work with then she would make do. She stood in front of Harry, face grim and determined as the serpent came forth.

Harry scrambled backwards and fell down in his fright and she glanced back at him. Smart boy, he had his eyes closed.

"GO FOR ITS EYES FAWKES!" she screamed and turned around in time to see the snake lunge for her and the boy. She pushed out a surge of magic that exploded against the side of its head. The force knocked her and the boy to the side but it also caused the basilisk to rear its head. Fawkes took his chance and swooped in, pecking the creatures eyes into a bloody mess.

Riddle was screaming at the serpent and the fae crouched protectively in front of the boy. She was taller than him now, she absently realized.

"Help me, help me." Harry muttered wildly and her chest clenched at the sound of his fear.

"Someone— anyone—."

She needed to do something.

Fawkes was still distracting the beast and the fae hesitated before dashing away from Harry. The basilisk swept its tail and hit her full in the chest as she grabbed the sorting hat. She landed next to Harry and so a moment could not breathe as she threw the thing in his face. Air rushed back into her lungs in a gasp. She knew why Fawkes had brought the hat even if the enemy did not.

"Put-put it…" she struggled to speak but the tail was swinging at her again and she threw herself over the boy and onto the ground. "Put it on!"

He did and soon he was standing back up with the sword of Gryffindor in his hand. She stood next to him and took a couple of deep breaths.

"You're really lucky I dated a goblin once, Harry. Taught me a couple things with a sword." She said as she grabbed his chin and looked directly into his eyes. "Now copy exactly what I do."

She took a step back and Harry mirrored the dueling stance that she took. The basilisk lunged and they dodged as it hit the chamber wall. It lunged again and they held their ground; braced for impact and thrust the sword into the serpents open mouth.

The basilisk reared its head once more, knocking the fae to the side as Harry slid down the wall. She watched as he pulled the basilisk's fang out of his arm and fear lanced through her heart for a dread second.

Fawkes flew over and began crying into the wound. The fae fell to her knees and laughed weakly.

"Okay, I didn't date that goblin for that long." She confessed thinking about her less than adequate swordplay. She ran her hands over her face and looked up when she heard a bang. Damn, it was getting hard to pay attention.

Fawkes fluttered away from the boy and Riddle was now standing over him.

Talking.

Gracious, did he ever stop?

She swore and scooped up the dairy. She could feel how the memory was still bound to it, though less and less each moment. She tossed it to Fawkes and he dropped it in Harry's lap.

"Stab the ruddy thing!" she screeched and was pleased to see Harry seize the basilisk's fang and plunge it into the diary.

The memory died and she swore she felt something…something odd. She looked over at Harry who was rushing over to the girl that still lay on the chamber floor. She smiled at him and closed her eyes. As she went back to sleep she transformed and returned to hang protectively around her boy's neck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please review!


	8. Wounds

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own anything Harry Potter or the poem by Mr. Yeats.

Sirius Black was causing a big ruckus and over the next year the fae only peaked her eye open a couple a times. Then with an annoyed huff she would go back to sleep. Honestly, she did not know how human's got along each day when they could not tell when another's blood-lust was for themselves or for another.

She knew for a certainty that he was not after Harry and the red-headed child's rat was not any of her concern. It, itself, was a pathetic creature and no match for her. So she slept, trying to relieve a weariness deep in her core that only real danger could make her ignore.

She awoke with a jolt.

"Holy hell, Harry! Is that a werewolf?!" she yelled, turning towards him. A dog bounded past her and jumped at the transforming man. She looked around, trying to make sense of it all. Snape was unconscious and she took a second to resent him for it. Then the other man was transforming back into a rat.

What is going on? She thought wildly.

Then there was more transforming and yelling and… her shoulders sagged.

The fae walked over to the where the two snarling canines were wrestling each other and slapped the werewolf on the snout. It made an indignant sound and paused in it's fight.

"Go play!" she ordered pointing towards the forest and it bounded off, chased by the black dog. She sighed and squatted on the ground, staring listlessly at it. She was still so tired.

Child, where have you been?

Every muscle in her body tensed as she realized that she was sitting bathed in the pale light of the full moon.

Child…

NO!

The fae jumped up and sprinted for the Forest, where the trees would keep her in shadow. Somewhere in the distance Harry was shouting for the one called Sirius, but it did not matter.

She had to hide.

Hide.

Hide!

Desperate gasps tried to become sobs and the fae tripped. Scrambling in the leaves and brush she crawled into dark refuge under the large root of a tree. In the distance a child called out in fear. It reached her ears at the same volume as the moon's calls for her.

She pressed her hands over her ears as she trembled in the dirt.

Forget me, mother! She pleaded. Forget the daughter you used to have.

She had changed; had become tainted and could not bare her mother seeing her ruined state.

…can you forget your own child? Came the most gentle whisper.

…listen. He needs you.

"…expecto… expecto patronum…"

She forgot herself, crawled out of her hole and ran to the boy who was surrounded by darkness. Skidding to a halt, her head snapped back and forth between the time-displaced Harrys.

The older. Said the moon. The fae wasted no time to reach him as he stepped out to help his younger self.

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" he yelled and she felt her mother impart a gift to her that she immediately transferred to Harry.

A brilliant, silver animal that shined as brightly as the moon above leapt from his wand. The dazzling stag rushed forward and chased the cloaked forms of despair away. They both stared at the beautiful creature as it turned and stood before Harry.

"Prongs!" he whispered and the fae understood. His father also gave his life that night years ago.

She closed her eyes and lowered her head as the children took Buckbeak and left. She stayed where she was, under the watchful glow of the moon's pale light. She did not crouch anymore; she didn't cower, but stood with back straight and heart resigned.

The moon waited silently until the fae lifted her sad eyes to gaze at her.

"Mother…" she said, voice cracking.

Shh, child, shh. You worry about nothing.

"But- but I'm—" she spread her arms as if to present her entire body as evidence.

Do I not, myself, sleep and live in a black sky? Is not my face one of many scars?

The fae's hands shook as she bit her lips and looked down.

We walk through darkness and pain for the ones we love.

"Mother." She said, all her hope and desire to still be loved in that one word.

Dance for me.

The little faerie's sob came out, half transformed into a laugh and she smiled weakly. With a deep breath she looked up and began to sing with the tune the stars played for her.

"'O shining ones, lightly with song pass,

Ah, leave me, I pray you and beg.'"

She stepped and turned, her limbs remembering their former grace.

"'My mother drew forth from the long grass

A piece of a nightingale's egg,

And cradled me here where are sung,'"

Tears fell from her eyes and glistened in the moonlight. It wasn't the same.

She wasn't the same.

"'Of birds even, longings for aery

Wild wisdoms of spirit and tongue.'"

But that was okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please review!


	9. Tasks and Challenges

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own anything Harry Potter.  
> Warning: There are two swear words in this chapter. If this bothers you please tell me and I will up the rating of the story but that kind of language will not be prevalent.

The fae woke up as Harry stepped into the arena for the first task. Her knees buckled as soon as she had form and caught herself with her hands before she did a face-plant. With a deep breath she looked up and saw the scaly black lizard crouched over its egg and glaring at Harry.

"Really? A dragon?!" she crossed her arms and scowled at him. "You know I am getting real tired of your shit Potter." she said.

The boy was frozen in place and hell if she was going to encourage him in this. She shook her head with an exasperated sigh and scanned the audience. She spotted Snape.

"You're useless, you bastard!" she yelled at him, fists clenched and seething. She wanted to go over to him and smack him in his stupidly neutral face as he watched Harry do stupidly dangerous things.

But the boy had summoned his broom so she took a shaky breath instead and hopped onto the back of it. She had to fight a fucking dragon and everyone around her was useless.

At some point she became vaguely aware that she was underwater and wondered why. What was going on?

Harry was swimming.

Swimming.

She hoped that he was having fun and remembered to wear sunscreen...

When she next awoke, she was staring into the eyes of a dead boy. Wide, unseeing eyes; innocence and shock frozen in place by death. She couldn't move from where she lay on the ground or look away as sorrow and failure choked her.

Something happened and she wasn't sure if it was a noise or her own tired mind catching up but she suddenly realized that his eyes were not green. The dead boy in front of her was not her boy.

All her breath left her body in a sob.

Thank you, oh thank you, thank you. She thought, the only thing she could do. To thank whatever had seen fit not to have her wake up staring into Harry's dead eyes and to weep.

Slowly, awareness of her other surroundings bled back into her brain and she pushed herself up off the ground.

She stopped thanking everything.

Harry was tied to the back of a tombstone as Voldemort stood in front of him. The fae tried to bring her fire to bare as she stumbled towards the tombstone. But it did not seem to be burning the enemy; only Harry was grimacing in pain as her only weapon seared through his head.

"...lost my powers and my body." Voldemort was saying, "I tried to kill him. His mother died in an attempt to save him—"

The fae took a step towards Harry and almost fell.

"—and unwittingly provided him with a protection I admit I had not foreseen…"

"Don't…" she rasped as she put herself between them, leaning back against Harry's bound legs.

"… I could not touch him."

The fae looked on with horror as Voldemort raised a single bone-white finger and held it close to Harry's cheek.

"His mother left upon him the traces of her sacrifice…" said Voldemort.

The fae scrunched her eyes closed.

"This was old magic,"

There had to be a way to stop this.

"I should have remembered it, I was foolish to overlook it…"

She could feel Harry trembling behind her. Oh child…

"… but no matter. I can touch him now."

Voldemort placed his finger on the boy's cheek and the fae felt her weapon used against the one it was meant to protect. Harry did not scream through his pain, though she knew that his head felt like it was going to burst.

Voldemort laughed softly and turned away. She could have wept as she climbed to the top of the tombstone and looked at his face.

But she didn't.

Harry was breathing heavily through the cloth they had stuffed into his mouth. He was covered in sweat and she longed to wrap her arms around his neck and cry.

But she couldn't.

Harry wasn't.

No. Though they shook, his breaths were even and controlled. His eyes were focused and taking in everything going on. Ready to fight back at the first chance.

She felt her despair harden into something else as she looked into the bright eyes of the boy that had never been a child. How had she lied to herself all this time? Telling herself that she had cared for him yet bemoaning what she had lost.

Hadn't Lily said anything?

Everything?

There was no moon that night but she would not feel shame anymore regardless. The fae breathed in deeply, smelling smoke and the tang of blood and fear in the air, and set her jaw.

Looking around properly for the first time, she noted the snake circling in the grass as it flicked its tongue at her. She hissed at it and it flinched. It would keep its mouth shut if it knew what was good for it.

Voldemort was telling something to his brood of trained monkeys.

Good.

That bastard hardly needed encouragement from her to yammer on. And she needed time to think. The fae jumped down from the tombstone and walked around in the circle, staying opposite of that blasted snake.

She put her hand out as she walked by each black-robed man, strumming against their dark auras -oh that one was a woman, she would not have been able to tell from the voice alone, and memorizing them. When she had made a full round, she stopped and stared at the pale snake-like man.

Still talking.

The large snake passed behind her and she lifted the corner of her mouth in a snarl. Flashing her sharp teeth. It kept going but for a brief moment she felt something from it.

Something familiar.

Something that she had sensed in Harry and what she felt in front of her. Her brow furrowed as she tapped in the sick blackness around her enemy.

Her eyes widened in realization.

"Well crap." She said.

An understanding of things was forming in her head but she had no time for the horror of it to paralyze her. Voldemort was finishing up story-time as he turned towards Harry once more. He lifted his wand.

"Crucio!"

Harry writhed in pain and the fae snarled, leaping closer to the half-man. She reached out with her magic again but this time not to simply explore. The force of his magic and dark emotion rolled over her and euphoria fought with the desire to retch.

Oh, the things she could do at the reins of this kind of power. The terrible wonderful things.

She inhaled through her clenched teeth and pressed her hand into her stomach.

"There are better ways then to just make him suffer." she said and Voldemort ceased the spell, looking thoughtful. Harry sagged in his ropes.

"They think he is more powerful than you." She said. Voldemort sneered.

"Give him a fair chance." She said and swallowed thickly, "Free him and fight him. Defeat him with a wand in his hand and then they will see."

Voldemort almost nodded.

"You see, I think," he said, "how foolish it was to suppose that this boy could ever be stronger than me…"

He kept talking and the fae's eyelids fluttered as her eyes rolled back into her head.

Such confidence.

And didn't he have the power to back it up? She felt all the muscles in her body beginning to relax.

It was right there in front of her, all she had to do was take it and she would no longer be the smallest of the faeries…

"Now, untie him, Wormtail."Said Voldemort "and give him back his wand."

Her eyes snapped open.

He was going to kill Harry and there was no way she could influence him to do anything else. She broke the connection with Voldemort and stumbled backwards. Slowly she brought her shaking hands to in front of her face and turned them over. The tips of her fingers were now stained with a taint that she knew would not fade.

She clenched them into fists.

There would be no coming back if she ever tried that again.

The rat-man released Harry and took the rag out of his mouth. Harry was on his feet but he was favoring one leg and though his eyes shifted for an escape, he did not run. Wormtail retrieved his wand and shoved it into his hand.

The fae shook her head to clear it and stepped closer to Harry.

"You have been taught how to duel, Harry Potter?" Voldemort asked quietly. The fae saw Harry frantically thinking and watched as the reality of his situation dawned in his eyes.

"Harry, I can't do this for you." Said the fae softly.

"We bow to each other, Harry." Said Voldemort, bending in a mockery of a bow.

"You're a great wizard. Harry." She said. "I am not the first to tell you that and you should believe it."

"Come," said Voldemort, "the niceties must be observed… Dumbledore would like you to show manners…"

"You're better than him, Harry."

"…Bow to death, Harry…"

"Tell him to shove it up his arse."

The Death Eaters were laughing as Voldemort smiled.

Harry did not bow.

"I said, bow." Voldemort raised his wand and forced the boy to bend at the waist. The Death Eaters laughed harder and the fae snarled at them. Voldemort hit Harry with the cruciatus again and the fae dug her finger nails into her palm as she watched him suffer.

He didn't beg though, he didn't make a sound at all. Harry Potter, a fourteen year-old, simply endured the pain and stood back up when it ended. Of course it was no fun to play with a mouse that did not squeal before it was eaten, and Voldemort thought that an imperius would see to that. But Harry would not be forced to even by magic.

"I WON'T!" he screamed, breaking the spell the mad-man had put on him. The fae wanted to clap wildly as the Death Eaters stopped laughing. There was a warmth building up in the fae's chest as she waited for the right moment. The moment when she would jump between the death curse and her boy.

Harry dove out of the way of another cruciatus and hid behind a tombstone. Voldemort slowly walked towards his hiding place and called out taunts. She saw the gleam in his red eyes and knew it was time.

The warmth spread and she smiled ferally and she put herself in place. She could see Harry from where she stood and saw the flinty strength behind the resignation on his face.

"Stay where you are, Harry." She said. "This will be over soon."

She felt quite warm now. She supposed that this was the end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please review!


	10. Strange Magic

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own anything Harry Potter.

Harry did not listen to her. He stood up and faced his foe, ready to die like a man.

The two cast their spells simultaneously and the jets of color met right where the fee stood. Once again, she was transformed by a magic beyond her control. The warmth inside of her became a bright golden light as she felt herself being tied and stretched between two fiery points.

She needed to move. The two wizards were lifted up as she re-positioned them. There, now they had more space...for... for? She felt so hot, why was it so hard to think? All that she could really rely on was instinct.

The Death Eaters were running and circling them.

Damn!

She splintered and threads of golden light high over them and created a dome over them; keeping the Death Eaters at bay. She reached out, touching each wand and felt the phoenix in both of them.

A phoenix she knew; she began to sing the song her friend taught her.

Every golden thread vibrated with the melody and it was as if the song was singing itself. Hope filled Harry's eyes.

"Don't break the connection." she told him and she could almost swear that he actually heard her voice. She closed her eyes. It was so bright, so hot. She must be burning away, burning...

Power surged through her and the points she stood between began to shake.

Harry...

His wand was shaking more and the power was moving towards him.

No... it mustn't...he...

She couldn't control it and she almost cried out as the heat moved nearer to his wand. Harry scrunched up his face in concentration and slowly... so slowly the beads of light and power were pushed towards Voldemort's wand.

It connected and the fae screamed in pain as the heat became blinding.

The fae suddenly found herself in a different place and looked around in confusion. It was well-lit but a bit nondescript for her taste. Maybe one got used to it.

A doorway appeared and a group of people walked through its veiled passage. The fae instantly dropped into a crouch and tried to make herself look as small as possible. But they paid her no attention as they gathered around a different doorway that had appeared.

"Well you first my boy. "Said an old man, clapping a weathered hand on the shoulder of a young man. The youth turned to give the man a half smile but caught sight of the fae.

They made eye contact and she recognized them at once. They were still just as dead, but then again, there was no changing that for young Mr. Diggory. He turned from her and walked through the door.

"Miss Jorkins." said the old man, "Ladies first?"

"Now, now sir? Said Bertha Jorkins "You know that there is an order to this."

There were only three left. A man and woman standing together and a figure in a black robe, standing off to the side. Hands clasped in front of him and hidden in folds of fabric.

The figure turned its hooded visage towards the fae and inclined his head in greeting. She hoped that the wild beating of her heart was not just an illusion as she stood up and curtsied with the respect that was due to someone like him.

The woman turned and smiled when she saw the fae.

"Hullo." she said and the man turned as well, curiosity on features so very familiar to her.

"Hello." said the fae, not sure what else to do. She glanced nervously at the black-robed figure and inched closer to the woman and further from the figure.

"I hope Harry has not been too much of a hassle for you?" said the woman, eyes sparkling. The fae snorted.

"A hassle?" she said forgetting the figure for a moment, "Are you sure that his father was not an imp, for all the mischief he causes?"

"Well..."said Lily looking playfully at her husband.

"It's part of the Potter charm." he said with feigned indignation. The woman laughed, hugging the man's arm and the fae averted her eyes as they kissed. The littlest of the faeries had been alone for too to be comfortable with such displays of affection.

Lily looked at the fae and they regarded each other for a moment.

"Thank you? Said the woman who had once had red hair, green eyes and life. She said it quietly and intensely.

"It's not over yet.'' said the fae with just as much feeling.

"No." said the mother looking down. After a moment she picked up her head and squared her shoulders. "Well, it's my turn. "She smiled once more and with a nod to the hooded figure, walked through the door.

The fae watched her go but after a moment noticed the elder Potter looking down at her with a lopsided grin.

"What?" she said scowling at him.

"Oh, nothing. "He said, grinning wider and shrugging," You just remind me of someone. That's all."

Her scowl deepened and he laughed as he walked through the door. The fae shook her head at the behavior of humans. The hooded figure unclasped his hands and the fae tensed. As casually as she could she walked up to the door they had gone through and away from the veil the figure stood next to.

Through the doorway she could just make out shapes that looked like the cemetery and heard muffled voices. She moved closer to the edge and she glanced at the figure again who was staring down at her from the black depths of its hood. She swallowed.

It wasn't doing anything to stop her. It inclined its head towards the door and that was all the permission she needed. Taking a moment to understand the scene before her-

"NOW!" someone screamed and she was ripped through the doorway. She hit the ground running, barely having time to think what to do.

Harry was reaching for Cedric's body and she just grabbed unto him as he touched the triwizard cup. They were pulled away in a swirl but after a moment she hit something solid. With a jolt she was dropped at the edge of the Forbidden Forest and landed with a thud.

She groaned as she rolled to her side and lay in the leaves for a moment. Thinking of Harry, she sprang to her feet, ignoring the bone-deep fatigue that plagued her. Though, try as she might, she could not push past the wards. She ran her hands through her hair in frustration and stopped in shock.

Her hair.

She had always had hair that almost reached the ground and when it had been made of light, it had been her glory. As it had turned dark, it had weighed down on her like a deadened and black limb.

She ran her hand over the rough and prickly stub once more and realized that it must have been burned away. The fae dropped her hands to her side.

Perhaps this was better.

She felt lighter now, like an infection had been drained-

She gasped and pressed against the wards again. Harry was supposed to be safe, but what she sensed at that moment was anything but safe. She looked through the boys eyes and watched us one of the professors proved to also be the enemy.

The fae hit the impenetrable air in front of her with her fist and cursed herself as useless. She cursed the fates that fought against her and cursed the way her bones felt like dry twigs and her skin like paper. She cursed her inability to do anything.

Anything.

She pressed the heels of her palms into her eyes and refused to cry. She would not cry anymore. Not when all she could do was watch. Watch and hope that someone would help where she could not. She hated being forced to trust another.

She sank to her knees, head bowed, as others came to the rescue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please review!


	11. Resolution

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own anything Harry Potter.

The fae on the tree branch and drummed her black stained fingers. She couldn't exactly ignore their state but she had somewhat bitterly accepted the way they now were. They were the reason she was not with Harry that summer.

She had used the enemy's power and the blood wards kept her out now rather than give her strength. It was necessary to find a different method.

The fae narrowed her eyes as her prey came into view.

A man in black stumbled into the clearing she waited at the edge of. He had long ago abandoned the basket he had filled with potion ingredients and now clutched his wand in front of him. Breathing heavily, he took slow steps backwards.

He looked sharply to the left as something moved among the trees and backed up right into her faerie circle. The fae hopped down from the tree as her enchantments caused Snape to lose consciousness and he collapsed.

She walked up to him and a large wolf trotted out of the trees and stopped next to her. She patted the creature's head absent-mindedly as she looked at the potion master's face.

"You know, he kind of reminds me of a crow I once knew." She said. The wolf perked his ears and tilted his head toward her.

"Yes. They have the same nose." She said. The wolf bent his head down and gave the man a sniff.

"It was centuries ago and this crow fell in love with a human girl. He had no problem living as a man and they had many children." The wolf sat down on its haunches and its tongue lolled out of its mouth. She smiled; wolves were such suckers for a love story.

"The only problem was when she died."

The wolf whimpered.

"He was a fae and could have moved on, kept living and forgotten her after a while... instead he went to Death and asked him if he could overlook fae immortality just that once, and let him accompany his wife into the afterlife."

The wolf gave a small bark in question.

"Of course he was allowed." The fae said ruffling the wolf's ears. "Death is really quite reasonable once you sit him down for a cup of tea. Or so I've heard."

The wolf opened his mouth in a doggy smile and licked her face.

"Oh, off you!" She said with a grin and the wolf walked back into the trees. She watched him go but her smile faded as she looked back at the man she had captured. The fae kicked his forearm where she knew his own faint was and snarled at the thought that she had trusted him.

Well, not trust.

He was a bastard to her boy and now she knew he was marked as a follower of the other bastard. She kicked him again.

Bastard.

And now he was going to be a dead bastard. She was going to steal his magic and his life force like the proper dark fae that she had become. And the strength gained from him would be used to fight his master.

The fae stretched the back of her neck. She had thought about the best way to do this and really there was only one effective method. She sighed heavily. Never mind that the process would turn her into a succubus...

She had seen those that had been changed by this. They became these long-legged things with tits big enough to suffocate a man.

But she supposed that was the point of a succubus. The fae would take the shape of the Potion Master's ideal woman and then she would take all his power.

She sighed again.

When she was born she had been the size of a dandelion seed. The smallest of the faeries and she had compromised and grown to accomplish what she had to. She had just hoped that she would not have to grow much taller than her current 4'1".

The only way she could get out of looking like a big-titted clown was if he happened to be wholly devoted to only one woman. The fae snorted at the chances of that.

She ran her hand over her face and decided to get this over with. Now, traditionally this was done while straddling the hips or chest. Most successfully the hips.

The fae stepped over him with one leg but immediately pulled it back, shaking her head.

Maybe she could sit side-ways on his chest? She lowered herself onto his chest but soon stood up in frustration. She walked around in a circle with her hands on her hips before squatting next to his head.

The fae poked his temple and scowled. Maybe if she just kept contact she could get through this. Really, all she needed was a position that mimicked some form of intimacy.

She lifted Snape's head and positioned herself until it was resting on her lap. She nodded in satisfaction as the clouds shifted and the moon appeared with its half-lidded gaze.

The fae looked up at her mother.

Look at his heart first, child.

The fae scowled more. How was she supposed to kill a man if she got to know him first? She stared at the half-moon for a while before she sighed and looked down.

Into the man's mind.

Where two more half-moons were perched on the nose of a man she recognized, whose eyes normally twinkled.

They weren't twinkling in the memory of the dark man as his younger self begged for Dumbledore to save her.

Or the memory of him weeping for the death of the woman with red hair and green eyes.

The only woman he ever devoted himself to.

The fae saw his promise to always protect her son. Even as the jealousy that the boys was not his and hers burned in his chest.

How he was reminded of that fact every time he looked at the boy's face. And how he always had and always would do what he needed to make sure the boy survived.

Always.

The fae withdrew from his mind.

The bastard.

James Potter had said that she reminded him of someone. Now she understood.

She put her hand on the side of his face.

"We might as well work together in this." She said and connected with his mind again, forming a more permanent link.

It was not the kind of magic a succubus used because his love for his lost friend would protect her from changing and him from being taken in.

That kind of love was not fooled by imitations.

This would not give her that much power either. But his magic would sustain her without putting him at a disadvantage.

The fae moved his head off her lap and laid it gently on the ground as she stood.

"Thank you, mother." She said and the half-moon went behind a cloud once more.

The fae pushed one of the stones out of her faerie circle, thus breaking the magic. Snape shifted in his sleep, but he would wake up soon. The fae lay down next to him and put her hands around his neck before becoming the faerie pendant.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please review!


	12. A Bit of Fun

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own anything Harry Potter.

The fae transformed back into herself as soon as Snape crossed the threshold of number 12 Grimmauld Place. Harry was there!

"Where is he?" She muttered as she began to open doors. Snape moved directly through one of them and she followed. Harry was sitting at a table with his godfather and the fore practically ran over to him.

She looked him up and down and tasked as she noticed the dark circles under his eyes. Looking deeper she watched some of the nightmares play behind his eyes. Nothing she could do about those.

Severus had immediately started arguing with Sirius about something. She watched them disinterestedly for a moment and snarled at the old elf that peeked around the corner. The fae glanced at Harry who had remained sitting at the table and did a double take.

Oh.

Oh, her dear Harry.

She hadn't thought that he had it in him and she felt a swell of pride. He was fighting it, but it was there. A truly mischievous smile slowly spread across her face as she stepped closer.

Harry stared at his folded hands on the table and thought about how, no. No, he wouldn't do it. He glanced up at the two men still deep in their row. He shook his head and pressed his lips together. He had done many foolish things in his life, but he would not risk his life in this manner.

"But you know you want to do it." She whispered leaning close to his ear. The boy swallowed reflexively and her smile widened, eyes glinting.

"It's simply asking to be done." She said moving around his chair to the other side. "You'll regret it if you don't." she said softly in his other ear.

Something seemed to break in the young man and he looked at the two arguing men in front of him.

"And believe me," Snape was practically spitting, "you do not want to see what I can do when I am seriously annoyed."

"No." Said Potter quickly. "You're severely annoyed. He's seriously annoyed."

Silence reigned as the fae suppressed her squeal of delight and the two men stared at the teen.

"Quick! Run Harry!" The fae yelled giggling. "Run before they recover!"

The boy shot up from his chair, knocking it to the floor with a crash and dashed out if the room. Leaving behind two gaping men and a hysterical fae.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn't resist. This scene popped into my head and I had to put it in. Please review!


	13. A Series of Unfortunate Events

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own anything Harry Potter or the poem by Mr. Yeats...or anything by Lemony Snicket, AKA Daniel Handler.

Harry took a step towards the pensieve and glanced at the door nervously.

"Don't do it." The fae hissed. He stepped closer. "You don't need to see anything in there!" She knew what was in it and no one would benefit from Harry snooping.

"Don't!" she almost yelled. The boy subconsciously stepped around her and only hesitated a moment before putting his face to the shimmering surface.

"You stupid arse!" She screeched stomping her foot.

The fae just had time to hop unto Sirius Black's back as he stormed out of the safe-house to go after Harry at the ministry. She looked back at Severus' stunned and scowling face.

"You're all stupid arses!" she screamed right before Black disapperated.

Was she supposed to be proud of the way he fought the grown men after his life? The way he had inspired other bloody children to ban together and fight by his side?

She wasn't.

In fact she had a distinct lack of feeling in general ever since she saw the man named Black fall behind the veil. The boy nor the others couldn't see past it but for the fae it was sheer fabric.

He had fallen behind it and stumbled, looking confused at his new surroundings. Suddenly a hooded figure put a skeletal hand on his shoulder and began to lead the man away.

Sirius tried to look back, but the hand on his shoulder was strong and allowed no leeway. Death might be an okay guy in general but when he was working, he took who he could and never gave back.

No one stopped Death from looking back and when he did he looked straight at Harry. Slowly, he turned his head hooded face towards her and tilted his head in greeting before turning away and taking his charge with him.

The fae felt her mind lose its tether and for a moment she felt as if she were floating. She knew with no uncertainty that regardless of any prophecy or anything she did: no man cheated Death of his due.

Her boy would die. Someday. Somehow…

…but so would that talkative bastard.

Now when Harry fought and pushed Voldemort out of his mind all by himself, she was proud. Love had saved him the first time and love kept him still.

It always would.

Snape slammed the door to his quarters at Hogwarts and immediately made his way to where he kept the whiskey. The fairy pendant around his neck transformed and the fae appeared sitting on the back of one of his armchairs.

"Well, it seems Dumbledore figured out Voldemort's soul magic without any of my help." Said the fae with a flat voice. She had hoped for more time…

Snape picked up the whiskey bottle as if to pour a drink but then set it back down with a loud clink.

"…like a pig to the slaughter…" He whispered, voice rough.

"Yes." She said leaning back over the chair. "The boy must die."

Something glass shattered against the wall and Snape covered his face with one hand as he leaned heavily on the table with the other. The fae didn't even flinch, she simply stared at the cold fireplace as she lay backwards over the chair in a sick broken way.

""Afar from our lawn and our levee,"" she said so very softly.

""O sister of sorrowful gaze!

Where the roses in scarlet are heavey""

Snape threw another with a crash and sank to the ground.

""And dream of the end of their days,"…be careful of the glass, Severus."

Death came to Hogwarts that year.

He stood in the distance until at the very end, he was waiting at the top of the astronomy tower when Snape and the fae arrived.

The fae stepped back from Severus at that point.

"Severus…," pleaded Dumbledore. "Severus…please…"

The fae didn't want to watch, she wanted to cover her eyes so that she could not see how much he hated his friend at that moment. She sank down into a squat in the corner. Hated the man he trusted the most because of what he was forced to do.

But she watched as Snape raised his wand a Dumbledore.

"Avada kedavra!"

The green light hit Dumbledore and he fell…fell.

His body fell from the tower and his spirit stayed at the top. For a moment he looked down at where his body was on the ground. Soon though, he turned and caught sight of Death politely waiting to the side.

"Hullo." Dumbledore said slightly amused and confused. "Are you who I think you are?"

"Most likely." Said Death. Dumbledore chuckled.

"And who is that?" He asked gesturing towards the fae and looking at her. She stared back with wide eyes.

"Someone who will see things to the end." Said Death. Dumbledore nodded as if that were a perfectly acceptable answer.

"Do you always come for souls yourself?" He asked turning back to Death.

"Mostly, but I make a point of it for those who used at least one of my three gifts."

"The Hallows?" Dumbledore said, turning to walk next to Death.

"Yes, that is what you call them."

And they walked through the veil together. The fae walked over to the edge of the tower and looked down. They were starting to gather around his body. She closed her eyes and lifted her face to the sky. She would stay until the end then.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please review!


	14. Calculated Loss and Sacrifice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own anything Harry Potter or the poem by Mr. Yeats.

Scene: A circle of Druidic stones

First Fairy: Afar from our lawn and our levee,  
O sister of sorrowful gaze!  
Where the roses in scarlet are heavy  
And dream of the end of their days,  
You move in another dominion  
And hang o'er the historied stone:  
Unpruned in your beautiful pinion  
Who wander and whisper alone.

All: Come away while the moon's in the woodland,  
We'll dance and then feast in a dairy.  
Though youngest of all in our good band,  
You are wasting away, little fairy.

Second Fairy: Ah! cruel ones, leave me alone now  
While I murmur a little and ponder  
The history here in the stone now;  
Then away and away I will wander,  
And measure the minds of the flowers,  
And gaze on the meadow-mice wary,  
And number their days and their hours-

All: You're wasting away, little fairy.

Second Fairy: O shining ones, lightly with song pass,  
Ah! leave me, I pray you and beg.  
My mother drew forth from the long grass  
A piece of a nightingle's egg,  
And cradled me here where are sung,  
Of birds even, longings for aery  
Wild wisdoms of spirit and tongue.

All: You're wasting away, little fairy.

First Fairy [turning away]: Though the tenderest roses were round you,  
The soul of this pitiless place  
With pitiless magic has bound you-  
Ah! woe for the loss of your face,  
And the loss of your laugh with its lightness-  
Ah! woe for your wings and your head-  
Ah! woe for your eyes and their brightness-  
Ah! woe for your slippers of red.

We'll dance and then feast in a dairy.  
Though youngest of all in our good band,  
She's wasting away, little fairy.

William Butler Yeats, "The Fairy Pendant"

Chapter thirteen: Calculated Loss and Sacrifice

Snape liked to stand at the top of Hogwarts and look down. She supposed that as Headmaster, that it was his prerogative. But he wasn't the only one.

Death had not stayed away.

The fae stepped out on the ledge where Snape stood and looked up at the hooded figure on the roof. She sighed and set her mouth in a thin line as she climbed up. With one last inelegant heave she rolled onto the roof. She lay there for a moment, breathing heavily then covered her face with her hand and laughed.

"You're wasting away." She said and dropped her arms and sat up with a grunt. A little bit of scooting and she was sitting next to the other black-robed figure.

"I see that the word got out about this spot being a great place for brooding." She said glancing up at Death.

"Did you have a question, little fairy?" he asked.

The fae shrugged and rubbed her head. Hm, her hair seemed a bit longer…

"I guess I was just wondering why you didn't take me in the cemetery a couple of years ago."

"You didn't die." He said.

"Really?" She looked slightly surprised. "Huh."

"Indeed."

"…Why are you here now?" she asked seriously staring into the distance and trying to sound like she wasn't terrified.

"I always prepare before-hand when I know that I will be particularly busy."

She looked down and scowled, heart pounding.

"Can't you just piss-off?"

The hooded figure shifted and she looked up with jaw set and what she hoped was defiance without the tinge of fear. Death made a noise that could pass as some kind of laugh.

"You fae are all the same. You get so upset when you think you are losing whatever game you are playing." He said. The fae couldn't see inside the hood but it seemed like he was smiling. It did nothing to still her pounding heartbeat.

She swallowed.

"If you want to play a game, I'm sure I could think of something."

More of that odd laughter and his shoulders shook.

"No." he said, "I learned my lesson about playing games with the fae. I cannot take you due to age now and I rather not lose any other avenues of work among your people."

The fae shifted uncomfortably.

"Not too much of a loss on your part." She said trying to be conciliatory now that defiance hadn't worked. "You must have known that our violent natures and mischief would have brought us to you anyway."

"Well, there was that." Death said. "It was still a very clever maneuver on your part." He nodded in her direction and she forced a smile at the compliment.

"I thought I had learned my lesson." He continued. "Thought I was taking a page from the fae when I met those brothers. Just like the fae, I gave them exactly what they wanted and claimed what I wanted all the same…for two of them anyway."

This time the fae could not help smirking for real.

"Fairy tales do tend to favor the youngest and smallest in those situations." She said.

Death nodded and with a flutter of fabric he was gone. The fae stared at the empty space that Death left. He always got what he wanted; those who defied him never really won. The fae were restless and would always cause mischief and their own destruction and men could only flail. Extending life only temporarily. Such was the destiny of men.

Power wouldn't help.

The oldest brother had that and because like calls to like, he was destined to end violently. Such was the fate of the Elder wand.

Holding unto what was lost certainly did nothing.

The loss and pain of the memory but not the possession brought despair. Such was the fate of the Resurrection Stone.

Hiding was futile.

To elude death…to extend your days until…

…until the youngest and third brother had lived long and fully and had taught his son to do the same. Yes, he had died, but when he did he greeted Death like an old friend.

The fae sat up straight.

Was that what living was? Knowing that you will die and trying to keep living until death was no longer an unknown terror?

A tear gathered and fell heavy and bitter from her eye.

That was what she wanted for Harry. Her boy did not need power or his mother's ghost. He needed to live and elude death for as long as he could.

Voldemort though, he could die as violently as could be. Preferably in some slow, messy way that involved dismemberment or disembowelment, or some other process that entailed the prefix "dis-". Maybe even "de-"; there were a lot of fun words that started with that.

She wiped her eyes and thought hard about how to guarantee such a fate like someone who possessed the Elder wa—

All her tiny, pointy teeth gleamed in the sunlight as she smiled.

She stood up. It was time to stop brooding. She had to convince Severus to go see the talkative bastard so she could whisper promises of power in his ear.

The fae took small steps to the edge of the roof and looked down.

"Now how the hell am I supposed to get down?" She mumbled. "Severus, come closer to the edge." She called out. "I need to step on your greasy head!"

The fae stood next to Snape as they both watched the Weasley boy drag Harry out of the pond as the boy clutched the sword of Gryffindor, gasping and coughing.

"He's grown so much." She said, lips quirking ever so slightly. Snape turned away abruptly and she had just enough time to hop unto his back.

One thing she was always surprised by was that Death went to each person one by one. She knew tome was not an issue for such a being; but even on all the chaos on the battle at Hogwarts, he still worked at a slow, steady pace.

There weren't ever any mass reapings. No, death was a personal matter and Death went to each of the fallen, regardless of affiliation. Sometimes he helped them stand, said a few words and took them beyond the veil. Sometimes he simply stood there as the soul looked around in pain or shock and waited for them to come with him.

He did his job well and she had no desire to watch him work. She stood off to the side of the boat-house with Severus and Mister-talks-a lot.

True to form, he was talking again. Fingering the Elder wand.

She wondered if she would have to wait long. Suddenly he was lifting Nagini up in the air and the fae pushed off the wall in shock as Severus screamed.

"I regret it." Said Voldemort and he left, taking his pet with him. The fae ran to Snape and fell to her knees at his side. Blood gushed from his neck in a stark contrast to his white face as weak fingers tried to staunch the flow and he shook.

"Somebody help him!" She screamed and a crate moved. Harry, her Harry, appeared as he took off his invisibility cloak and knelt on the other side of the dying man. Snape grabbed the front of the boy's robes and pulled him forward.

Sick noises came from Snape's ravaged throat.

"Take…it…take…it…"

The fae watched as memories leaked from him and knew them by their shine. He was telling Harry everything he could not say. He, at least, was not surprised by this end.

"Look…at…me…" Snape whispered and the two boys that she had cared for looked into each other's eyes until one lost its gleam. Snape's hand loosened and fell to the floor.

Her eyes were dry.

Somehow her eyes would not produce tears even as the loss would not fade from her mind.

But then the bastard was talking again and rage tinted her every thought. She waited for him to finish and for Harry's friends to convince him to leave. She stared at him with clenched fists as he looked down at Snape. He seemed do lost, but he turned away and climbed back into the tunnel that he had come through.

She thought about going with him but looking back at the empty black eyes kept her rooted in place. Death hadn't arrived yet, she didn't know when he would and she didn't want to be there when he did, but…she could not just leave him.

"'Though the tenderest roses were round you,'" she said, mouth dry and voice cracking.

"'The soul of this pitiless place

With pitiless magic has bound you—

Ah! woe for the loss of your face,'" she looked down and bit her lips.

"'And the loss of your laugh with its lightness—'" with a girl with bright red hair…

"'Ah! woe for your eyes and their brightness

Ah! woe for your slippers of red.'"

The fae pressed the heels of her hands into her eyes and took deep gasping breaths. She needed to leave.

She stumbled to unsteady feet and left the boat-house as quickly as possible; heading straight to the Forest.

She would see this to the end.

The fae knew what Harry was being shown he must do and she knew it was time. And dammit! she would see this through to the end. With gritted teeth she waited for her boy to come and greet Death.

Voldemort cast the spell and the fae found herself in the indistinct white place again.

"So this is not quite death." She said in almost a question.

""Not quite" would be the best description for it, I suppose." Said Death standing next to her. A distance away Harry was speaking with Dumbledore.

"Well, as long as I've got you here, I have something to discuss." She said matter-of-factly. A low table with two chairs appeared and after a moment so did a tea set. "You take yours with sugar, don't you?" She said as she sat down and began to prepare two cups. After Death sat and the edge of his cup disappeared into his hood in what she assumed was a sip, she set down her own cup and folded her hands in her lap.

"Now." She said "I am not sure how aware you are of the fact, but Lily Potter, Harry's mum," she gestured over her shoulder to him. "Made a contract with me right before she died."

"And what were the terms of this contract?" asked Death setting down his cup with a gentle clink.

"'Anything.'" She stated. "'Everything.'"

"…my, you have been living frugally." He said. The fae nodded.

"I think it is about time I cashed in." Death gestured for her to continue. "As you know, everything that was Lily's is now mine. Her son and everything he possesses. Including," she paused and raised her cup to her lips, "all three of the Deathly Hallows." She took a sip. Death looked at her and tapped his finger on the table once.

"Those were human gifts. Harry is the current Master of Death, little one." He said.

"Yes."

"And it is his decision whether or not he goes back or forward."

"Of course."

He tilted his head.

"Then what exactly are you asking?"

The fae turned and looked at Harry with a sad smile.

"He's all grown now." She said softly. "I did what I could for him but he has been on his own for a while now…hopefully he will be happy with his choices and his…life."

Death waited patiently for her to get to her point.

"I seek another as my prize." She said turning back to Death.

"That boy's situation is unique but being Master of Death is not enough to bring back the dead." He said.

"It is if you took something I had previous claim to." She responded. "There was a man whose heart, mind and very soul, belonged to Lily." The fae sat back in her chair. "She gave her own heart to another but it did not mean the man that loved her so whole-heartedly ever took his back." She leaned forward again.

"She said 'anything'. She said 'everything'. And now I mean to take what is contractually mine."

Death and the fae stared at each other for a few minutes.

"He will not be the man that he once was." Said Death. The fae laughed out loud.

"Oh Death, I thought you had learned not to play word games with the fae?" She, again, got the feeling that Death was smiling.

"Very well." He said picking up his cup. "But I expect this particular agreement to be the last of its kind."

"Of course." She said, inclining her head and smirking into her own cup.

Once Harry was done with his talk with Dumbledore, the fae found herself back in the Forbidden Forest. She could see Harry laying on the ground in the clearing, pretending to be dead. She wanted to run towards him and help.

There was new strength in her bones and she knew she could dance in the forest once more and run with the wolves.

She could help Harry.

There was still a bit of a fight left even though she knew that it was already won.

The fae took a step backwards, away from Harry. There was a connection between them; not the kind there was before, but if he ever called for her, she would come.

But only if he called.

She smiled as she turned away. He was a strong young man; he would be fine on his own. The fae stopped after a bit, there was something flailing in the underbrush.

Slowly, she walked towards it and found a large crow madly flapping its wings as it rolled around on the ground.

"Calm down, calm down." She said, kneeling beside it. The crow stopped moving, wings still spread out and beak open as it panted and stared up at her.

"I know this is all a bit confusing." She said grinning. "But I will try to explain." She reached down and scooped the bird up. It cawed in protest and flapped its wings.

"Shh, shh." She soothed as she stood up. "You've got an entirely new body. That will take some getting used to." The crow shifted in her grip.

"If you don't like this form too much, then I can teach you to look like a man soon enough."

The crow relaxed and the fae walked deeper into the forest, chatting happily, and away from Hogwarts.

The End.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just the epilogue left. Please review!


	15. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own anything Harry Potter.

A black-haired child of eleven cautiously stepped through the forest, trying to keep the wand he clutched in front of him from shaking. A sound made him spin around, eyes wide and face white.

"My, my. Did the Forbidden Forest cease to be so at some point?"

The boy spun again and froze at the sight of a small woman sitting in a tree. She was smiling at him with sharp teeth and eyes that glinted in the moonlight. Her hair was mostly white but had pitch black tips and went to her shoulders.

She jumped down from the tree with floating grace and landed in front of the boy. He inhaled sharply and took a step back.

"Are-are you a f-fairy?" the boy asked trying to be brave. She smiled wider, which did nothing to set the boy at ease.

"Yes I am. Or fae. Whichever. Why do you ask?"

"M-my d-dad told me about them. Said that he knew one when he was little." The boy took a deep breath "But he sometimes laughs about it and says it was a d-dream."

The self-admitted fae sat down on a nearby log and patted the spot next to her. The boy hesitated a moment then sat next to her.

"Is that why you snuck into the forest tonight? To see if fairies were real?" She asked.

"N-not really." He said with a nervous half smile. "I mean, I was curious but I guess it was because I was dared."

"You were dared?" she tsked, "Now you must be smarter than that. At least smart enough to know that fairies are not nice creatures. Well, most anyway." She said with a grin.

The boy nodded and swallowed thickly, realizing the situation he was in.

"They called me a coward." He squeaked. She raised an eyebrow.

"Well," the boy continued, "They said that I was only half brave."

A crow landed on a tree branch and cawed, startling the boy.

"He's right, you know." Said the fae gesturing towards the bird. The boy opened his mouth but closed it again, glancing at the crow.

"Um, how exactly is he, er, right?" He said slowly, not sure if he was supposed to understand crow.

"Well, bravery is an abstract concept that can't be measured in terms of "half" or "whole", so what they said is kind of impossible. You either are brave or you aren't." The fae explained and the crow nodded once.

"Er…" said the boy glancing between them.

"But you were explaining something, please go on."

The boy cleared his throat.

"I had told them that I was named after two different Headmasters of Hogwarts. One was a Gryffindor and the other was Slytherin and then it took so long for the sorting hat to sort me and they said that I was only half brave because I was only half Gryffindor…"

The fae narrowed her eyes.

"These children know that these two men aren't you fathers and that you simply carry their namesake, right?"

"What?"

The crow flapped its wings and cawed.

"I know." She said looking at the crow. "I'm just saying that the taunt hardly makes sense logically." She turned back to the boy. "If this is the best "they" can come up with, I'm guessing you didn't sort into Ravenclaw?"

The boy stared at her for a couple of seconds then shook his head laughing. She smiled and the crow covered his face with his wing under the pretext of preening his feathers.

"I guess it was really dumb of me to come out here just to prove them wrong, wasn't it?" He asked after he was done laughing.

"Just a little bit."

"I was going to only stay for a couple minutes though, but I didn't want them to accuse me of only going to the edge." He explained. "So I came in deeper and, well, I…got lost."

The fae nodded.

"It's just that," he continued a bit desperately. "Dad told me that both Headmasters were really, really brave. The bravest men he knew, so I wanted to prove that both names made me brave. Albus Severus Potter."

The boy looked dejectedly at the ground and the crow stared at him without moving. But the fae was grinning again. Gently, she put her hand on the boy's arm. He looked at her stained fingers and wondered how they got that way.

"You know what, Al?" She said softly leaning towards him. "You were named after a very brave and loyal Slytherin and…" She looked into his green eyes, "you were named after a rather conniving Gryffindor."

Al grinned.

"Yeah, dad told me about that bit too." He said.

She sat up straight.

"Let's get you out of this forest!" She said. They stood up and the crow shook itself and flew to another tree. The fae began walking in that direction. Se and the boy chatted about his classes and professors until they reached the edge of the forest.

"Now Al, the Forbidden Forest is still forbidden. You can't come back. Especially alone." Said the fae. The crow cawed his agreement for emphasis. The boy got the feeling that he had just been called a dunderhead.

"I understand." He said earnestly. The fae smiled and glanced at the crow.

"Albus Severus Potter," she said, "You told me your name, now I am going to tell you part of mine. You may only share it with family. Direct family." She said seriously and waited until the boy nodded fervently.

"I'm trusting you." She said and then leaned in, putting her mouth next to his ear and whispered one word.

She leaned back.

"Your dad knows this name too but probably only in his dreams." She said. "If you ever need help or your siblings or one day, your children; they can just say my name. And if I can come, I will."

The boy looked like he had a hundred questions but she shooed him away.

"To bed with you! It won't be my fault if you get detention."

Al walked back to the castle but stopped halfway there and looked back. At the edge of the forest stood the fae and next to her stood a tall man in black. With one last wave he ran to rest of the way to the castle.

"We didn't find out which house he was sorted into." Said the large nosed man whose greasy hair shone like feathers.

"Oh please." Said the fae. "Like that really matters."

The crow landed on her shoulder and they walked back into the forest together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That is the end of my little tale. It would mean the world to me if you could comment and tell me what you thought. Thanks for reading!


End file.
